Belgian GP McLaren race notes

West McLaren Mercedes driver Mika Hakkinen won today's Belgian Grand Prix -extending his lead in the Formula One Drivers' World Championship to six points. David Coulthard's fourth place means that West McLaren Mercedes remains top in the Constructors' World Championship. David maintained his third place in the Drivers' Championship.

Mika Hakkinen:
'This was an enjoyable race and I'm really happy to leave Belgium with 10 points. I lost the lead to Schumacher when I spun at Stavelot. I don't really know what happened but the kerbs were very slippery. After my second pit stop I was closing on Schumacher and tried to get past him at the end of the straight but that didn't work. However I was much quicker coming out of La Source. I would probably have been close enough coming up the hill to overtake him anyway but because of the backmarker I got an

David Coulthard:
'Obviously I'm a bit disappointed because I came here to win. I lost too much time in the early stages of the race when everybody changed to dry tyres. It was quite frustrating to be stuck behind Frentzen for so long, but I got him in my second pitstop. I managed to overtake Button by following him closely through Eau Rouge and his slipstream allowed me to pass him just before the chicane.'

Ron Dennis:
'Mika's race was somewhat hampered by his spin and an out of balance car during the middle section of the race. At his final pitstop we made the appropriate adjustment which improved the car and allowed him to catch Schumacher. His overtaking manoeuvre I'm sure will go down as one of the greatest in Formula One history. David's race was certainly hampered by our decision to stop him one lap later than Mika - this is of course with the benefit of hindsight. However a superb recovery, a well executed pitstop and a great overtaking manoeuvre on Button earned David a well deserved fourth place. His Championship is most definitely not over and we will continue to give both drivers equal treatment at Monza.'

Norbert Haug:
'A superb victory by Mika and a fantastic overtaking manoeuvre. Mika is now in a very good position for the last four races as is the team in the Constructors' points standings. Sorry for David, we should have taken him in for the tyre change earlier. But the team then did a great job in the pits helping David to overtake Frentzen. Our mistake cost David a point as he certainly could have finished third instead of fourth. We now concentrate on the next race at Monza.'